Assassin's Creed Origins (2017)

The Chronolog III b: The Ancient Era - Rome and Egypt

Through sharp military strategy and a knack for adapting the technologies and tactics of other civilizations, the Roman Republic positioned itself as a rising power in Europe—setting the stage for Western dominance in the centuries to come.

Rome’s legacy gets plenty of screen time across various games, but it was Julius Caesar’s campaigns—as portrayed in both Empire Earth and Age of Empires—that laid the groundwork for the final stretch of the Chronolog before the dawn of the Common Era. These games track key turning points in Roman expansion, blending real events with classic RTS gameplay.

And then came a deeper, more immersive experience with Assassin’s Creed: Origins.

What Origins did best was not just gameplay or story—it was the reconstruction of ancient Egypt under Roman influence. Walking through cities like Alexandria and Memphis, witnessing the political drama in Egypt unfold within the context of Assassin's Creed's overarching narrative—there’s a sense of “phantom familiarity” that makes the world feel alive.

That said, while Origins is steeped in real historical names and locations, it’s also drenched in speculative fiction and mythological fantasy. From a historical education standpoint, it’s better viewed as inspired by history, rather than a trustworthy retelling. But when it comes to capturing the vibe, the culture, and the setting, few games do it better (especially with the game's Discovery Mode to boot).

Continuing from Caesar’s fate, we shift into the lesser-known yet compelling Shadow of Rome on PS2. This title offers a dramatic retelling of events following Caesar’s assassination, focusing on Octavianus (later known as Caesar Augustus) as he rises to power. The game, although heavily fictionalized, adds flavor to the historical narrative by blending stealth, arena combat, and political drama.

Back in Age of Empires, this period ends with Rome’s triumph over Antonius and Cleopatra, closing the curtain on the Roman Republic and ushering in the Empire. With that, the timeline of the Chronolog edges toward a massive cultural shift.

There is still one more entry to cover before closing off the Ancient era period and, for that, I'll have to jump back in time a bit...

Old World <-- Chronolog: Ancient Era main post --> The Battles For Greece

I've played this game because I purchased like a year ago on the Epic Store for €5 and I felt on the mood of "an arcade game" and people, this game is too long to be an arcade but too "Ubisoft style" to be non-arcade.

I play in a kind of strange matter: I don't want to be completest, but I have to clean all the items near me. As a result, I have played a total of 60 hours in a "casual game". I mean, most of these hours I was enthusiastic about the game, the historical setting is pretty accurate and, mate, I love playing in this historical events. But the game, suddenly, began repetitive and sometimes tedious.

The gameplay still have some serious bugs accounting it was released five years ago, which means the game was abandoned when it was no more profitable. Also, the game is sold as a stealth game, but the NPCs are legally blind. And, finally, I almost understand anything about the campaign: character's face expressions are horrible and the script too.

Resuming, it's a good game if you want something made to not think too much, but I recommend you to go direct for the principal missions and do a few secondaries.

Finally finished the DLCs (both 100%), thinking I'll probably 100% the base game next. I seem to be in the minority but I much preferred The Hidden Ones dlc to the Curse of the Pharaohs. (Tahira🔥🔥🔥) The bosses in CoTP were awful, the plot made even less sense than usual for AC and it sort of just ends?... no proper conclusion just okay it's done now x Also, Bayek just giving away the apple to the guy he's met approx. three times im- .

The afterlives were beautiful, but not very fun imo and padded with actual fetch quests where characters just ask you to go to Y and collect X with little to no narrative reason. Collect X and Y because we need it for a ritual, collect Q and Z to summon the Pharaoh, collect E and K because I said so.

Tahemet was one of the game's most interesting character's but given basically no screen-time, the entire southern region of the map feels redundant (Yebu being central to the plot and then used as a SIDE QUEST location wtf), the villain's motivations were muddied and unclear (what exactly do they WANT???????), Bayek's complete lack of reaction to the afterlives, the lack of assassination targets, I could go on and onnnnn - it's a FINE dlc but to claim it's one of the best in the series as I've seen online is mind boggling to me.

I also encountered way more graphical glitches in the DLC than I ever found in the main game.

I just finished the main quest and im-

This is still one of the best games I've played in recent memory but damn... Why weren't we playing as Aya this whole time???

SHES LITERALLY AMUNET, THE HIDDEN ONE!!!!

I've seen a lot of Aya hate about how she's poorly written and unsympathetic but... isn't it obvious that all of that characterisation was repurposed for Bayek when they made him the MC instead?? Now all they had for Aya were scraps of her former self. While the father-son dynamic is good, it would have been pretty unique to play a grieving mother and would have lent the game's story more ingenuity. It's just really sad Aya wasn't the MC when the story and lore is literally all about her.

I like Bayek, he's very honourable and a medjay and that's great but he's one of a million stoic (though occasionally humorous) men pursuing revenge just like Ezio, Connor and Arno. It's nothing really NEW for the series, but I am glad the series got its second black lead and that the game addresses the mistreatment of Egyptians under the Ptolemaic Dynasty.

Also these graphics and the draw distances still have me quaking 50+ hours in, how did they make this world so damn BEAUTIFUL. Anyways, onto the DLCs! (hoping they will give Bayek's story a more satisfying conclusion)

I've just reached Krokodilopolis and this game has completely and utterly blown me away. I remember hearing complaints about the side quests and repetitive nature of the game but I'm still loving every minute of it. Each location is a joy to explore, the combat is fun and engaging and I LOVE how interesting the side quest stories are and how they tie into the main narrative. There are so many great mysteries and stories that flesh out the world of Ptolemaic Egypt so much more and give the game an even greater sense of atmosphere.

The claims of repetitiveness befuddle me, like yes you go to places, find objects and kill people..... that's the GAME??? It would be like complaining a JRPG is repetitive because it has turn based battles.

The only issue I have experienced is being over-levelled but I've been playing on hard with level scaling on to still have some challenge.

Okay when I initially played this back in 2017 I was suffering from a bad case of fanboyitis. I remember being befuddled by the controls and mad about the series' new direction. I played up until I reached Alexandria then stopped, and I have once again just reached Alexandria on this playthrough.

Coming back in 2021 I am OBSESSED. I've visited every '?' and completed every side quest so far. Replaying the franchise I've come to appreciate the overall mythos and lore of the series and I'm looking forward to see how these games explore the First Civilisation plotline more. I'm also not mad about the lack of proper Brotherhood/Templars because that plot had been done to death in the past ten games.

I also remember that in 2017 I wasn't a huge fan of the Witcher 3, but I learned to love it and played the game to 100% completion in the intervening years. The Witcher 3 in a lively, sprawling and beautiful recreation of Ancient Egypt? Sign me UP. Side note, I really love the environmental storytelling (especially the papyri that further characterise the locations you visit.)